Confused
by renrie
Summary: When three unexpecting Kansas locals move to Playa Linda they find themselves in an unusual love triangle. Everything is wrong and everyone is confused.
1. Chapter 1

"Dave!" I heard her calling down the hallway after me, I tilted my head to the side, wondering if I would have enough time to talk to her and make it to class on time. I'd been in love with her since the day I'd met her. With her long brown hair and petite frame, she was nothing short of perfect, I couldn't see how she even wanted to associate with me, but I suppose it had to do with the fact that we'd both moved here from a little place called Kansas, it wasn't hard to find common ground between us seeing as there really was jack shit nothing to do there. I'd moved to Playa Linda first, leaving Callie with not much else to do but talk to me. She moved the summer going into 9th grade, I'd already been there a year. I knew the surfers and the locals, I knew the do's and don'ts to life at Playa Linda High, she had no choice but to follow me. It worked. Here I was, Callie's best friend, standing in the middle of Playa Linda Hill waiting for her little legs to catch up with me.

"Dave, you will not believe what I got us invited to tonight," She puffed heavily as she scooted between an actively making out couple and a few lockers.

Alright, so she was still a little more popular than I was, even here. But it didn't mean I got left behind, something had changed in Callie during the move, something crucial that left her friends important to her, and I'm not exactly sure what it was.

"Where, Cal?" I looked at her blankly, blinking my bright blue eyes a few times before cocking my head to the side as I waited for her to catch her breath.

"Bradin… Westerly's… party." The words came out choppy due to her quick intakes of breath, but I heard just perfectly.

"Bradin Westerly?" I asked again, my left eyebrow arching as I shifted my weight onto my other foot, my books suddenly feeling like the weight of the world was in my arms, "As in that new kid?"

"Yeah, the _really_ cute one, he's from Kansas. Can you believe that? I'd heard a rumor around that he was, but I didn't believe it. We ended up talking a bit on the beach the other day and it's true."

_She emphasized cute, _I thought to myself_, You only do that when you like some one. She's got to like him; he's good looking and all. I guess._ I wanted to kick myself, how could I go to this kids party tonight with Callie drooling all over him? But I smiled nonetheless, "Alright. Sounds awesome, maybe he knows a few of the same people we do." I gazed down quickly at my watch, "Fuck. I'm extremely late." I hadn't even heard the bell ring; Mrs. Ambrose was going to kill me. I hugged Callie goodbye and ran down the hallway that seemed to stretch on for eternity, throwing open the door to room 310 I stumbled into a person standing cautiously in the doorway.

"Hello, Ms. Weatherfield, nice of you to join us. Care to help the young boy you just knocked onto the floor?"

I looked down and into the most beautiful pair of aqua eyes I'd ever seen.

"Bradin Westerly, meet Daveigh Weatherfield. She'll be your new partner for the rest of the year." Mrs. Ambrose chuckled, propping herself up on her desk with her arms. The class followed closely behind with her laughing fit as I blushed a deep red.

So this was Bradin. And yes, I am a girl.


	2. Chapter 2

I was never the type of person to automatically start out with who I am, that's probably crucial when telling a story like the one I'm going to tell you. So there you have it, I'm Daveigh Weatherfield. That's Daveigh, pronounced Davey. Yes, like Davey Crockett, and no, I don't like jokes about it. I'm a girl, but that's pretty obvious by now. I play lacrosse and swim, the former being more unheard of in Playa Linda High. Playa Linda was more about surfing than anything else, but I'd moved from a state that took pride in its football and lacrosse, unlike here. It was a big change, but I've gotten used to the questioning looks when I tell people I play lacrosse. I'm tall, not abnormally tall, but a good size, 5'7, nothing special.

The bottom line of this whole reason for me not wanting to explain myself is that I am nothing like Callie. She makes my long blonde hair look mousy and ratty compared to her silky brown locks. I've got nothing up on her, absolutely nothing.

I stood in the doorway for a moment, holding out a hand to Brain as I flipped my hair over my shoulder with ease, only to cover up my embarrassment. Bradin shook my hand in a joking manner, giving me a half smile before standing up and brushing himself off.

"Sorry about that, didn't realize that this was a no parking zone." He gestured to the area of the room that he'd been standing in before having me knock his off his feet.

I sneered at him, letting out a sarcastic snort of approval at his humor. Together we walked over to the only two empty seats at the back of the classroom, it was a known fact that in the first few weeks of school the teachers always needed to sit us in alphabetical order, even if we were already juniors and the majority of them knew us by name. I looked over at Bradin, "These are the W's. Westerly," I pointed at the desk closest to the isle, "Weatherfield." I sighed, sitting down in my seat.

"I can tell you're going to be an awesome tour guide." He slinked into his chair as I pulled out a notebook from my bag and a pencil from behind my ear.

"Exactly." Was my response.


	3. Chapter 3

Once English class had ended Bradin and I quickly picked up our belongings and, stuffing them in our bags, exited the classroom together.

"So let me see your schedule." I stuck my hand out promptly and waited for him to fish the crumpled pink slip out from his bag. I glimpsed at it hastily and handed it back, "Alright."

"What've we got together?" He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as I gazed straight ahead.

"Excuse me?" I furrowed my brow in confusion. _What is he getting at? I just met him._

"What classes do we have together?" He quickly corrected himself, gazing down at his checkered van sneakers.

"Oh, that." I let out an embarrassed giggle and began playing with the hem of my black halter top, "We've got English together."

"Obviously." He chuckled.

"Alright, genius, I was just giving you the list." I slapped him playfully, "English, Anatomy and Physics we have together in the morning. Then we've got lunch and I don't see you again until Woodshop."

He stopped in his tracks, "You. Are in woodshop?"

"Yeah, you heard correctly. I'm in woodshop. Right now I'm working on an Adirondack chair." I continued walking, knowing that his reaction would be a common one, everyone always looked at me funny about that. It was just woodshop, right? And I was just a sports playing girl with a name like Daveigh.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt his arm brush against mine, he'd clearly shaken himself from his shock and caught up with me just in time to pass Callie's locker. Her eyes grew wide as she looked the two of us up and down.

"Dave!" She waved me over to her and Bradin followed close behind, being the new kid he didn't know where else to go.

"Cal, this is –" I was sharply cut off by a squealing hello from Callie. I watched as she hugged Bradin.

"It's so great to see you again!" She shouted.

"Callie, he's not deaf." I rolled my eyes, looking down at my feet.

"Oh, shut up, Daveigh." Callie retorted playfully, "You're just scared that I'm going to ditch you. Don't worry; you're still my best friend." She gave me a quick hug and escorted herself off to her next class.

"So I see you know Callie." Brain nodded approvingly, "She's a cool girl."

"You've only talked to her once." I snapped, quickening my pace down the hallway, "Don't judge a book by its cover, Bradin. I'dve expected Playa Linda to have taught you at least that by now."

Within seconds I was speeding ahead of him, unaware if he was trailing behind me or completely lost. And, quite honestly, I didn't care in the slightest.


	4. Chapter 4

Somewhere between Anatomy and Physics Bradin had caught up to me in the hallway, once again.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I thought that you and Callie were friends, I didn't realize that it was a sore subject."

"We are friends. We're _best _friends." I answered, a little snippier than I had expected, but it worked nonetheless.

"Good, that's what I thought, because she spoke so highly of you when I met her on the beach the other day." Bradin matched his strides to mine, finally getting the hang of dodging active couples here and there and making his way through a crowd of giggling freshman and sophomore.

"Did she?" I slowed my pace, wanting to hear what she'd said. I told you, I am completely in love with Callie; there is nothing I can do about it. Just hearing that she had spoken to Bradin about me had brightened my mood.

"Ah ha, so you're interested in hearing that, I knew you'd be. She was just telling me about how you'd come from Kansas, too. And how I should get to know you, that's why I was so glad that Ms. Ambrose made you my partner today. Plus, who else could show me the hallways of Playa Linda with such enthusiasm?"

I slapped my forehead and groaned, "Shit, I'm really not doing a very good job with that now, am I?" I looked at him with an apologetic grin.

"Its fine, it doesn't seem like there's much to explain. There's a classroom, there's a couple making out, there's another classroom. Oh hey! Guess what? There's a couple making out. Oh, there's Callie." He pointed past my shoulder to what I assumed to be Callie prancing down the hallways like she always did looking doubly adorable. Had I ever tried to do that I'd somehow trip myself up and end up landing on my face or elsewhere.

I turned around to meet the gaze of Callie, "You guys going to the beach next mod?" She asked happily.

"Yeah," I turned to Bradin, filling him in on what we were talking about, "We don't have to stay on the school premises for lunch, as long as we're back by our next class. Cal and I usually go eat our lunch down by the beach."

"Be forewarned! Your sandwich will literally become a **sand**wich," Callie called over her shoulder as she adjusted her books on her hip and walked to her next class.

"C'mon, we're going to be late. Mr. Trivino hates when we're late." I held my wrist watch up to his face so he could see the time.

"I'll remember that." I laughed as he pretended to take a note while chasing me down the hallway to room 422. "Oh, the joys of Physics."


	5. Chapter 5

"Mom!" I shouted up the stairs from my first floor room over the blare of my little sisters music. No response. I tried again, "MOM!" I shouted, louder this time. Then it came, a crash and a returned answer.

"Daveigh, what is it now? You woke the baby up, you know I can't have Noah just crawling around doing whatever he pleases at 9 at night. He'll be completely out of sync with his sleeping routine." 'Sync with his sleeping routine?'My parents were complete hippies, or at least they had been back in the day. How else would I get a name like Daveigh?

I sighed, climbing up the stairs as I pulled on an open back green shirt over my purple tank top, "I'm going out mom."

Once again, there was no response. Ever seen they'd had that mistake of a child I'd been neglected. Even Reyanne, my sister, got more attention than I did and she was a little snob of a ten-year-old. It usually didn't bother me much, it let me stay out as late as I wanted and do pretty much whatever I pleased within the parental control limits. I waited a moment or two before saying, "Mom, I'm going to Bradin's." The response was merely a grunt this time and I took off running the second I'd heard it, I knew that Callie would be waiting for me in her best outfit, if only to please Bradin. _She doesn't need to wear something gorgeous to please him, she's already the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. _I thought to myself as I wondered what she might pick out of her closet for tonight.

I grabbed my keychain off the kitchen counter and dashed out the door to my silver Mustang, turning the ignition and driving off down the street, Bradin had asked the both of us to come early to help him set up and get a head start on hiding his aunts most valuable items. I pulled up outside of Callie's ranch house and honked the horn two times, knowing she was already waiting at the window for me to arrive.

She came out minutes later in a white flowing skirt and a brown tank-top.

"Oooh, I love that necklace on you." I gushed, reaching over and unlocking the door for her, "Let me see it." I carefully placed my hand on her breast plate and brought the necklace closer to my view, "It's gorgeous." The necklace was a turquoise shell necklace with a beautiful brown wooden carved rose right in the center.

"Thanks," She laughed cautiously as I pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street.

"Do you know where he lives?" I asked after a few moments of just radio play.

"Yeah, it's actually this next right." She pointed at the large house that stood directly on the beach, all the lights were turned on in the lower part of the house and we both laughed, knowing Bradin was panicking at what he was about to do.

"Did he tell you where his parents went?" I inquired as we walked up the driveway and I fixed my skirt that had somehow become tilted on the drive there.

"No, he didn't say much of anything. But he did say his little brother and sister were going to be upstairs when we got there, apparently they're both off to sleep over some of their friends houses." She lifted her arm and knock hard in a rhythmic pattern on the door.

The door flew open and we were greeted by a huge smile, "Hey guys, thanks so much for coming." The words flew out of his mouth just as quickly as he turned around and rushed down the stairs into what looked like the living room portion of his house, "Do you think this looks alright?"

"I told him it looked fine, but he just doesn't believe me." A thick Australian accented voice came from the kitchen. There was a man holding a bowl of popcorn and a can of beer. I gazed at him in consternation for a moment before turning to Bradin. "You didn't tell us that your parents didn't mind if you had a party."

"No, no, no." Bradin shook his head, "This is my... my uncle? My friend." He nodded when the word seemed appropriate, "He's my friend. He just lives here. I don't live with my parents."

"Oh." I bit my lip looking around the room, "So yeah, it looks great." I could tell the topic of Bradin's parents was a sore one and he didn't seem like now was the right moment to talk about it, so I'd quickly changed the subject before Callie charged into the matter herself.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Bradin's 'friend' laughed, placing his beer down and giving Bradin a swift punch to the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, Jay. So you're the party master." Bradin nodded, grabbing the beer that Jay had just placed down and popping it open, "But this is _my_ party, so out. Out. Out." He shuffled Jay to the door with sweeping gestures and turned around to look at Callie and I, who were uncomfortably standing in the center of the room. He threw himself on the couch and softly patted the area next to him, "Well so much for making you guys come over an hour early to helped me set up, at least we can watch T.V."

Callie jumped at the chance to sit next to him and scooted over to the couch, placing herself gingerly down. "Hey you," she mumbled to him, causing me to nervously stir.

"Dave, sit your ass down!" Bradin called out, "Please, you're making **me** nervous."

I laughed, placing myself as far away from the two of them as I could. _I really don't want anything to do with that. _As I crossed my arms across my chest and squirmed in my seat a thought came to mind, _What if he becomes her new best friend? I can't live without Callie. She's too much a part of me._ I silently scolded myself for even thinking such a thing, Callie wouldn't do that to me. We were too good of friends. Hopefully.

The doorbell interrupted a whole new thought that I had began to brood over and Callie causally got up with Bradin, as if it was normal to be attached to his arm like she was. I rolled my eyes and stayed on the couch, watching the T.V as if it was the most interesting thing I'd seen in days. There was a squeal, that I assumed to come from Callie, and moments later Lucas walked into the room with his arm thrown across some girls shoulders I'd never seen before. I suddenly felt lonely.

"Since when did girls become the new accessory? I must've missed out on that trend." I joked with them, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't worry, Dave. You'll have an accessory by the end of the night." Callie winked at me before laughing with Bradin and sitting down to await the coming of more people.

"Hey, I'm Lucas." The brown haired boy introduced himself as he and his accessory made their way to the couch, "And this is Shelby." He pointed to what looked like the stupidest girl I'd ever seen. She smiled politely at me before returning to twirl her hair and popping bubbles of the pinkest bubblegum I'd ever seen.

"Nice…" I trailed off, giving Lucas an uncertain smile.

_This night will be far from nice._ I thought bitterly to myself as the doorbell rang once again.


	6. Chapter 6

I stood in the center of the kitchen with a cup of beer in my hands, watching as a group of boys held Shelby's feet in an upright position and poured beer from the keg into her mouth.

"Shelby! Shelby! Shelby!" There was a chanting coming from around her as her face began to turn red with the rushing of blood to her head, she wriggled a little, to let them know that she was done with her keg stand, the boys let her down and without so much as a second thought picked dup another bystander. I watched with amusement for a few moments before I took another glance around the room, only to realize that in the mob of dancing people I couldn't seem to find Callie or Bradin. I pushed my way between a few people standing around the counter talking, and another few that seemed to be eating more than just normal brownies by their erratic laughter and comments. The beer sloshed around in my cup as I pushed through another crowd or two before deciding I had to go to the bathroom.

I continued to push my way through the hallway and towards the downstairs bathroom when I realized what a long wait there was. _Someone must be puking in there,_ I thought to myself as the toilet flushed for the second time in the mere moments I'd been there. _This is terrible._ I downed the rested of my beer and placed my cup on a nearby end table before climbing up the stairs. _I'm sure Bradin wouldn't mind if I used the upstairs bathroom, it's no big deal. He trusts me._ I soothed my worried lines with my thoughts, telling myself that he wouldn't mind all that much if I just explained that I was in dire need of a bathroom and there was really nothing I could do about it, it seemed as if the whole town of Playa Linda was waiting on that one downstairs line, and that assumption was probably remotely true.

I got to the top of the stairs and walked through an area full of clothing racks. _Hmm… who's the fashion designer in this family? _I laughed to myself for a moment when imagining Brain hunched over a table sewing an outfit together, it definitely wasn't him. I began browsing through the racks when something caught my eye in the very corner, I carefully took it off its hanger and gasped. There I was, standing with the most perfect dress I'd ever seen. It was pink with ruffles just along the edge, hemmed to just above the knee and a large satin black stripe around the middle clad with a big black bow on the right hand side. I shook my head. _No, Daveigh, you can't even try it on. Can you imagine if you spilled something on it? Brain would absolutely kill you. No, Daveigh. _I silently scolded myself and placed it back on the rack where I'd found it, making my way to a doorway which I assumed to be the bathroom, I pushed it open and before even getting a chance to breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that it **was**, in fact, the bathroom, I let out a loud screech and dashed down the stairs.

"Daveigh! Daveigh!" They called after me, but it was too late. I was already running into the arms of the boys that I'd watched participate in the keg stand minutes before.

"I want to do it. I want to do a keg stand." I shook my head firmly at their questioning gazes, "Right now." And with that they lifted me up in one graceful scoop.


	7. Chapter 7

I remember being taken down from the keg stand. I remember seeing her face, the look in her eyes as if she knew the pain I was feeling inside. As if her sympathy would heal me. I remember looking her straight in the eye and telling her. Telling her I saw him and her, saw them in the bathroom and not to worry about it. I was happy for them. _I am happy for them_, I told myself as I walked around the house, unable to remember where I'd left them or where they said they'd be.

I couldn't believe it. I'd walked in on Bradin and Callie, right there in the middle of the floor. _What were they even doing?_ I fought with the alcohol for my memory, but it was clearly winning the battle. There was nothing I could about it, nothing I could do about any of it. I stumbled for a moment before regaining my balance with the back of a couch, without much thought I threw myself over the back of the couch and on top of a pair of making out teens from my school.

"Oh, sorry, Trista." I smiled meekly at the girl that I'd known from going to one too many of Callie's varsity volleyball games. She smiled back politely, not wanting to turn my already drunken stupor into a rage of emotions. I laid my head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling and wondering when I'd become so drunk. _Where along the lines of tonight did I suddenly stop being able to walk?_ I asked myself, knowing if I said it out loud it would simply be a slur of sounds that no one in the general vicinity could hear even if there wasn't blaring music coming from the stereo next to me. I lifted my head that had began to weigh a thousand bounds over the course of the night, it rolled slightly to the side before I picked it up and caught, out of the corner of my eye, a boy with a bottle of Advil.

"Advil!" I shouted, running over to him as best I could, which resulted in a mere crooked line into a wall. I recovered quickly and brought myself over to him, "Hey, is that Advil you've got there?" He nodded, keeping his eyes on me and his mouth closed tightly, "You think I could bum one off you? I'm going to have a terrible headache tomorrow if I don't start popping the Advil right now." I joked with him, laughing in between hiccups.

"Sure." He opened the bottle and handed me a little white pill. I looked down at it in the palm of my hand for a second before drunkenly smiling back at him, "My mom once told me never to take pills at a party, but I knew you'd be honest. I knew this was Advil, what other pill is small and white?" He shrugged before placing the bottle back in his pocket and ambling off to go talk to some friends. _Friends, _I thought as I placed the little tablet on my tongue, looking around for a glass of water to down it with, _where the hell are mine?_ I found a beer nearby and, figuring I had no better options, quickly swallowed the alcohol and pill, scrunching my face up at the bitter taste.

I made my way back over the couch which another couple had so graciously occupied. Sighing and knowing I didn't have much elsewhere to go than home, I walked out the door and down the street.

"Now let's see if I can remember how I got here." I slurred my words together, stepping over a few lawn chairs thrown about by partygoers and looking both ways down the street, "Left. Or Right?" I looked again, trying to decipher which one looked like the best route to 22 Ocean Grove Road, my street. The floor began to spin beneath me. "Whoa." I closed my eyes rather than sitting down for a moment and when I opened them it was distorted. Everything was. I turned left, deciding it looked like the shorter route and began to follow the gravel, keeping my head down was a better alternative than facing the never ending road. It stretched on for eternity, I was never going to get home at this rate. _At least I'll be sober by the time I do_, I meekly laughed to myself at the irony of it all before looking up one last time to see the distance I'd traveled. And then it happened. It melted away. The trees surrounding me began to drip like wet paint on a canvas. It peeled away into darkness and I couldn't see much more than my hand in front of my face, and even that seemed miles away. Holding my arm out in front of me I wiggled my fingers a few times, watching as one turned into 10 and then back into one again. Everything was in slow motion. What was happening to me? I tried it again, moving my hands slower this time, and yet again one turned into ten and then into twenty and then, as I came to a halt, back into one again. I'd begun to panic, running down the street every shadow hid a fear. Every corner was another thing to be afraid of, it was all wrong and upside, what had happened? Where was I? I couldn't take it anymore; I closed my eyes and sat on the curb, hoping it'd just pass. Hoping it was just a bad beer, but knowing exactly what it was. I sighed and opened my eyes slowly, first the right one a peek and then the left. It seemed fine, everything was back to normal again, but just as I stood up a pair of lights came flashing in my direction. Right at me. I was standing in the middle of the street and I'd somehow gotten glued there. I was glued to the pavement right in front of a moving car.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke with a startled jolt. A cold sweat had broken out on me and my clothes were stuck to my body in a disgusting matter. I was sitting up in a bed that I didn't know, in a room that I'd never seen. I looked around, trying to remember what had happened last night, when a flash came back to me.

There were a pair of lights, coming straight at me, and I was stuck. Something in my mind wouldn't let me move. I imagined myself like a deer in headlights, unaware of what to do, and the person behind the wheel shouting for me to do something. _What had happened after that? Where did I go? Who was in the car?_ I glanced around the room again, wondering for a moment if it was a hospital, but it couldn't be. Posters littered the walls around me and it was painted a shade of blue, unlike any other hospital room I'd ever seen. I wonder for another moment if this could be heaven, it wasn't much of anything to gush about, definitely not what they spoke about in their bibles. _I knew I shouldn'tve believed a word that came out of the old guys mouth, he couldn't speak without spitting, why should I believe him about some almighty heaven? _I began to doze off into another one of my thinking processes when the bed bedside me began to move. I shot back into a fetal position and mussed up my face into a look of consternation. Holding out my pointer finger like a prodder, I began to poke at the lump of sheets.

"Hi, hello? Yeah, hey there. Where am I?" I whispered to the stirring figure, "And who are you? And what the hell did I do with you last night?" I waited for a response from the groaning figure as they rolled over and popped their head out from beneath the covers.

"Christ, Dave, chill out."

I breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, and then began to think. _Was this something to sigh over or be completely scared out of my mind because of? _

"How did I get into a bed with you, Callie?" I bit my lip, hoping that I hadn't done anything stupid, nothing like proclaimed my love for her.

"I don't know, I passed out a few minutes after you found me and—" She stopped in mid-sentence, looking at me with concern, "Do you remember that?"

"Jeez, Callie, how could I not? You guys only scarred me for life." I heaved at her, tugging at the sheets that she'd somehow neglected to give me.

"Yeah, sorry, it wasn't anything big. We weren't having sex or anything like that, I mean –…"

"Cal, I don't care that much. It's no big deal. I just want to know how I got here." I cut her off, rolling out of bed and onto the hardwood floor. "I'm going to find out some information from Bradin, maybe he remembers more than us." I stumbled out the door and into a hallway, groaning and shading my eyes from the blinding light.

"Brae? Bradin?" I whispered, unsure if his family was home, unsure of what time it was, or even what day it was. The living room, still full of cups and kegs, led me to believe that no one was home yet and it was only the day after the party. I ambled between a couple of beer cans, and seeing a garbage can knocked to the side in a perfect aim for a goal, I went in search of a good can to kick. Find one, I bent down to pick it up and gasped.

"Callie!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Cal, come here now!" She ran from the room, holding her stomach in pain from the apparent amounting of throwing up she'd done in the previous night, "What, what, what? What is it Dave?" She rushed to my side, looking down at the can I was holding in my hand.

"I-I went to pick up this can. 'Cause I wanted to kick it into the garbage can, that goal. Right there. I don't know why I wanted to do it, I just did. It was just an instinct or something, I always do it when I see something sitting around—…"

"Daveigh! You're rambling, what is your fucking point!" Callie shouted, knowing it was something terrible if I was rambling.

I pointed down at the fabric spread out around me, "Callie, I'm wearing a designer dress from up there…" I flicked my thumb over my shoulder to the flight of stairs just as Bradin began to descend them.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey guys," Bradin gave a head nod in our direction as he picked his way through the litter on the floor, "It's pretty nasty in here, isn't it? I didn't think it'd get this out of hand." He looked suspiciously between the two of us with our mouths wide open and bent over a crumpled beer can like it was the single most interesting thing in the world.

"Brae!" Callie stood up, regaining her composure a lot faster than I had, seeing as I had **someone's **designer outfit on, and it sure as hell wasn't mine, or anything I could afford for that matter. I left my mouth still hanging as Callie ran over and embraced Bradin as best she could in her nauseous state, he hastily pushed her to the side before she could kiss his cheek and glared at me.

"Something… something is wrong. I can tell, look at her face." He turned to Callie, pointing at me, "Fill me in on whatever it is. It isn't about last night and the bathroom incident, right? We were just drunk, Daveigh, that's it. Honestly, I wouldn't do anything to put yours and Callie's relationship in jeopardy."

Callie let her eyes expand in disgust, "Brae, I thought that we –"

He hushed her quiet by putting his hand over her mouth and placing one finger to his lips, "No, Cal, not now. Look at Dave, she's practically going to keel over and die." He walked closer to me, kicking a can out of the way and then it began to register. His eyes first ran over the top half of the dress and then the bottom portion, they landed on the beer stain that ran the length of the dress.

"Brae, I, I can't explain." I started before he could even begin to scream, "I don't know how or when it happened. I'm, I, I'm so sorry." I stumbled on my words as I took cautious steps towards him, "I found it right before I found you guys, but I told myself not to wear it and then I got those pills. The ones that… I don't even remember **who** gave them to me, but they definitely weren't Advil." I'd began to ramble again as Callie looked at me with warning eyes, telling me in her own way to just shut up and let Bradin deal with it.

"Someone gave you pills!" Bradin shouted inadvertently.

I bit my lip and nodded my head as little as I could, "I didn't know what they were. Honest to God, by that time I was so trashed that I doubt I even really cared."

Bradin paced for a moment before muttering, "Fuck. Fuck. There were pills at my house. Listen, Daveigh, don't worry about it. It's my Aunts designer line, and all the clothing that my Aunt needs are at her show, and if this dress is all that important to her I'll tell her I lent it to someone. It's not that bad, honest." He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. I could tell it was a lot more than he was making it out to be, but by the look on my face we all knew that one wrong word would send me into a fit of tears.

"But, it **is** a big deal, what if your Aunt needs that the moment she gets home?" Callie groped for Bradin's hand to hold in hers. Her face fell as he successfully pulled it away from her.

"Well, Cal, I guess that's something that Dave and I are going to have to deal with. I doubt it'd happen anyway, what would she need it for? Honestly. I can't seem to think of any upcoming events that she'd designed this for." His cheeks puffed out as he let out another heavy sigh, "I'll just call Jay in here and we'll get this cleaned up and then make breakfast. Sit down and talk about this whole thing, alright?"

I nodded my head in agreement; there wasn't much else that I could do, for Christ stakes. I just met this boy yesterday and I'd already fucked up his Aunts designer dress with a beer stain, slept at his house and left him with the dilemma of who was passing out pills at his party. _I could kick myself right now, I've probably completely fucked up Callie's chances with him. And hell, if I can't have her at least he can._

I stood in the corner of the room while Bradin went to get Jay, the Australian that we'd met the night before, and Callie placed herself on the couch. Groaning she looked at me, "I already felt disgusting from this hangover and now I have to deal with the fact that my boyfriend hates my best friend."

My face fell as I thought about what she'd just said. _He hates me? It didn't seem like that. Maybe she knew something I didn't know._ But all that I could manage to get out of my mouth were the two words that I wanted to utter last in the world, "Your boyfriend?"

She nodded her head. "You saw us last night, Dave, don't play dumb. Of course he's my boyfriend." She let out a single ha, before resting her arm over her eyes to shade them from the piercing sunlight flowing through the large glass doors that Jay and Brae were now entering through.

"Daveigh, right?" Jay nodded his head in my direction with a smirk on his face, "I think Ava will like what you've done with her new collection. What are we going to call that? Beer Stained Party Line? It has a ring to it."

I let out a measly laugh while Bradin rolled his eyes at Jay, "Don't listen to him, he's just joking with you. I'm telling you, it's not that big of a deal."

I shrugged as the three of us turned our attention to the noise coming from the couch, a slow in and out breathing from Callie with her arm draped across her eyes in a deep sleep.

"She says you're her boyfriend." I whispered to Brae as we began picking up cans in places that I never thought things could be placed, for the second time in the time span of a half an hour he rolled his eyes, followed by, "Not likely."

It took the longest hour I'd ever spent in my life between the three of us to tidy the house up as best we could, and even then it seemed as if a tornado had blown through the Westerly property.

"Hey, it's the best we can do for now." Jay glanced around the room, his eyebrows raised, "Ava doesn't come home until tomorrow, so I think we'll have it pretty much ready by then mates. But I've got to head out and hit the waves before I go into withdrawl." He winked at Bradin and looked once more around the vicinity.

Bradin bit his lip, following Jay's eyes around the room, chairs were still in need of repairing and somehow someone had managed to get wads of toilet paper stuck to the ceiling of the kitchen. Now it was my time to sigh, "Listen," I said as silently as I possibly could over the sleeping body of Callie, "I'll sleep here tonight. We'll clean all night, it'll be fine. It's the least I can give to you for letting me off with the whole dress ordeal, let's just not tell her." I nudged my shoulder in the direction of Callie, "She'd flip out."

"Alright." Bradin nodded slowly, then looked at me with a relieved face, "That'd be pretty awesome of you." With that he turned to Callie and jostled her lightly, "Cal? Hey, Cal. We're going to make some pancakes, you in?"

She muttered for a moment or two before rolling over and answering, "I can't eat anything, I'm too sick. Tooooo sick, Brae."

"Your always too sick, Callie." I shook my head laughing as we walked over to the kitchen to cook up some breakfast.


	10. Chapter 10

I sat down directly across from Bradin and gave him a smile, "These are going to be the worst pancakes I've ever had in my entire life."

He pouted for a moment before laughing and agreeing with me, "Ditto. I think we better stick to woodshop for our elective this year. None of this cooking shit."

I nervously took my fork and cut into a pancake as batter oozed from it, "God, how'd you know I loved my pancakes under cooked? They're perfect, Brae." I joked with him.

"Hey, if I could punch you from here without wrecking this house more than it already is, I definitely would right now. I don't need your comments on my skilled chefs work."

"Yeah, yeah." I replied, laughing as I took a bit from the bitter pancake, scrunching up my face as Brae waited for my reaction, "Delish." I spoke through gritted teeth and grabbed the syrup from the middle of the table, dishing it onto my pancake in large amounts.

Callie was still passed out on the couch, not even the smell of pancakes had risen her from her death sleep. It was rather funny, it was also rather sad, but I appreciated the fact that I got to spend some quality time with Bradin. _Hey, at least I get to talk to him before spending my second night here._ I thought to myself, wondering how awkward it must've been for him.

"So, Brae, I must ask you. What the hell really did happen last night?" I picked up a soggy piece of pancake on my fork and carefully led it to my mouth, making sure not to drop it along the way.

"Alright, well let's see…" He spoke with his mouth open, in a rather disturbing matter if I do say so myself, but I didn't mind it all that much, "Okay, so you walked in on Callie and I making out."

"Well, that I recall, that was right before my lovely keg stand." I commented.

"Oh, I heard about that keg stand. You, my friend, were the life of the party." He cut himself off another piece of pancake and began using it as a sponge in his excess syrup, "But anyway, you disappeared for a while and then Callie started to throw up. It was really pretty nasty, and it was only something like 10 o'clock."

"Damn those light-weights."

"Yeah, seriously, you downed a hell of a lot more than she did and you're not over there." Brae nodded in Callie's direction, laughing to himself.

"Let's hope she doesn't hear us," I whispered, realizing that the vicinity in which we were in wasn't one that would really block the conversation from getting to Callie.

"Trust me, she can't hear us, and if she can… so be it."

For a moment I had to wonder if Bradin was just an asshole, here he was talking about the girl he'd been with the night before as if she wasn't within 10 feet of where we were sitting. For a moment it crossed my mind that he was always one to get a girl and then let her go, but then I remembered that he'd just moved to Playa Linda and already he was claimed. It wasn't something that anybody would enjoy, seeing as they'd just gotten to a new surrounding and hadn't had any time to check out the 'new merchandise.'

"Haha, you're right." I nodded, "So continue with what happened."

"Oh, right. So I went to drive Callie home, because she was a royal mess and I really didn't want to put up with it, and there I was… driving down the street when I see you. Well, I didn't see you at first, but after a moment or two I finally realized that there really **was** a person in front of me and when I tell you that I swerved, we're talking some crazy ass Hollywood stunt swerving. You wouldn't even move. I couldn't understand it. I brought you two back here, figuring that if I sent you home I'd get in major trouble, and I had Jay call your parents and pretend to be Callie's dad and vice versa."

"You'd think by now our parents would know each others voices, but these days my parents are so preoccupied I could get on the phone and say I was Callie's dad." I sighed, shrugging my shoulders and looking down at my pancakes as if they were the single most interesting thing in the room.

"Hey, Daveigh, don't worry about it. I mean at least you –…" A moan from the couch startled us out of our conversation that'd increasingly grown to a whisper, as if we were telling each other our life stories, and some part of me felt as if I could. As if I could sit down with this boy that I'd just met and already screwed up his life and just tell him everything that's ever happened to me, but by now Callie was up and moving and we were supposed to tend to her immediately.

_Typical Cal, _I thought. _Always stealing my moments. And I never seem to mind much._

I helped Bradin move her from the couch to his room. (I soon learned it was the room she and I woke up in.) And by the time we were finished with that grueling process, the conversation seemed to slip our minds, the new topic was one that I could tell concerned Bradin a lot more.

"Let me ask you one more thing," Bradin sat down on the couch and this time; I followed, sitting on the opposite side. (Still wary of being too close.)

"Shoot."

"What exactly was it that you took?" His brow furrowed as he looked at my reaction.

"You know, I'd actually completely forgotten about that. Ha, how could I?" I couldn't believe my stupidity, I suppose it was just something that I'd chosen to block from my memory last night, alcohol allows you to do that, you know.

"Understandable, I don't think it was something that anyone would want to remember from the way that you were reacting." He moved closer. _Don't do this to me, Brae, I just want to keep my distance. Callie, Callie, Callie. _My mind chanted, making sure that I'd stay loyal to my best friend. I didn't feel anything towards Bradin, but I knew Callie and her fits and her ways of making the smallest situation out to be something a whole lot more than it was. So she was a drama queen, and if I sat next to Bradin it'd somehow turn into me making out with Bradin, it was just something that I couldn't afford to gamble with.

"Yeah, I guess." I racked my brain for the size and shape of the pill, "It looked like Advil, it was in an Advil bottle. And the funny thing is, I can't even remember who gave it to me, or what it was. But I don't think they told me."

"No, they definitely wouldn't have. It's not something that jerks like that do. And I know this person was a jerk because I know exactly who it was."

"How?" I asked, curious as to what Bradin knew that I didn't.

He reached into his pocket and removed a small prescription bottle, "Because the idiot that gave it to you left their prescription medication here. Pharmacists label that stuff, you know?"

"So… who was it? And more importantly **what** was it?" I inquired, eager to know what I'd consumed last night and who the asshole was that I needed to kill.

He held the bottle closer to my face and pointed to the little name etched on the adhesive label, I read it aloud, "Lucas?" My head snapped back, "Lucas? Why would Lucas do this to me? I don't even know him."

"Dave, think, it wasn't Lucas. Someone in his family just used his prescription medication." I thought for a moment.

"Fuck. Tanner."

Bradin nodded his head in agreement, "Hell, I've only been here since mid-summer and I already hate that kid. I fought him, you know that?"

"Oh, Bradin, you're so masculine." I joked with him before getting serious again, "Why would he do this to me?"

"Not to you, Daveigh, to me. If I got caught with something this serious at my house…"

"You'd be major trouble, Bradin Westerly." A voice came from the doorway, startling both of us.

"Aunt Ava? I thought you were only supposed to get home tomorrow?" Bradin shot out of his seat.

"Lucky for you I came home a day early."


	11. Chapter 11

My eyes grew wide, I waited for a few minutes before slowly turning around. In the doorway to the house stood a young woman with two suitcases in her hands, peeking over her shoulder was an African American woman that I'd heard nothing about from Brae, but the surprised looked on her face told me that this was her house too.

"Listen, Brae, I better get going. This doesn't look like it's going to work out too well." I stood up from the couch, completely forgetting about the designer dress of his Aunts that I was wearing.

"Wait, Dave, stop!" Bradin's attempts didn't even so much as make me hesitate, until after Ava had caught a glimpse of the dress.

"Bradin. Westerly." Her voice was stern. My face dropped when I realized what exactly it was that she was eyeing. The large beer stain down the front of her probably very difficultly designed dress.

"Listen, Mrs. Westerly." Her face hardened.

"Try Ms. Gregory." Bradin whispered harshly.

"Oh, uh, Ms. Gregory. Hi, I'm Daveigh." I stuck out my hand, attempting to make the situation a little less awkward then it was making its self out to be, "My friend, Callie, met Bradin the other day and he invited her here because, well, you were away…"

Ava eyes shifted to Bradin, "Where is _he_?" She spoke of "him" as if the whole room new who she was speaking out.

"I think he went out. Him and Erika. I think he's probably at the shop." In the 24 hours that I'd known him, I'd never heard Bradin as nervous as he was now. _Hell, I would've run away by now. This kid has got balls, at least I can try to help him out. _

Before I could even begin my next sentence Ava had disappeared out the doorway again, leaving her bags behind her.

"Fuck." Bradin fell down on the couch letting out a large sigh.

"Hey, relax it could be worse. She's not the worst Aunt in the world." I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering how terrible of Aunt she could be. If my parents got called about this whole deal I'd be in major trouble. _Then again, they didn't even realize that Jay wasn't Callie's father. At all. They're pretty dumb. _

"She's close to it." He rolled his eyes, placing his feet on the coffee table in front of us.

"I heard that Bradin!" Ava's voice echoed from outside the door, "You're grounded. For a long time, buddy, and if you so much as think about leaving this house while I find him you're grounded even longer. Make that your entire life."

"Oh, she's good." I laughed, "Real good."

Bradin picked up a pillow and hit me in the head with it, "Shut up. Now let's think, what they hell are we going to do?"

"Brae, I don't know if you've noticed but there isn't much we **can** do. She already knows about the pills, but we'll just tell her it was Tanner."

"Why are we whispering?"

"I don't know, she might have super-sonic hearing or some shit. She's pretty intense, your Aunt."

"I'm going to kick your ass, Weatherfield!" I squealed as Bradin began to chase me around the couch.

"No, no spare me! I'm just trying to make you laugh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I giggled. He grabbed me and tugged me down, tickling my sides as I hit the floor and crushed a few stray cans, "I surrender! I'm going to peeeee! I'm going to peeeeeee, Westerly!"

Our laughter seemed to echo around the house as we screamed and wrestled each other, but they came quickly to a stop when the door to Bradin's room opened up and we found Callie standing over us glaring down, "What's going on?"

I caught my breath as best I could, "Bradin's Aunt came home and I was fucking with him."

"Yeah, _fucking_ with him, Dave?" Callie reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me up and off Brae.

"Cal, you know what she means. Chill out, we were just kidding around, trying to ease things up because I'm going to be grounded for the next 10 years." Bradin stood up, brushing himself off.

"Yeah, alright. Whatever you say." Her grip tightened as she sneered at me, finally letting go of my arm.

"I've never seen you like this before, what the hell is going on?" I inquired, worried about my best friend.

"Oh, please, Dave. I walk in to find my best friend on top of my goddamn boyfriend; wouldn't you go a little crazy, too?" My head lashed back at the blatant verbal slap to the face.

I went to speak but was cut off by a deep whining from the hallway, all three of us turned to see Ava with Jay's ear twisted tightly in her right hand, "Jay, can we look at what you've let these kids do?"

"Looks like a party to me." Jay retorted, chuckling to himself, followed by a squeal as the Gregory Grip tightened around his ear. _I can definitely relate to this guy._ I thought to myself, catching a look at Callie out of the corner of my eye, _What the hell is up with her?_


	12. Chapter 12

Authors Note:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews so far, it means a lot to me.

kandykane33: I'm sorry about updating so quickly. I don't usually finish any of my stories, so when an idea comes to my mind I want to get it down really quickly before I give up, haha. Plus, my chapters are really short… so I'll try to slow down or make each chapter incorporate more than just one of my ideas so it's less updates.

jessesfan0409: Thank you so much! And I'll also try to slow down on the updating, sorry. I hope you had a good vacation though. :)

AmberNdragt: Hah, thanks, yeah I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible w/o making it sound unbelievable. Let me know if I go over the top, lol.

Soxbabe: Aww, thanks! That means so much to me.

Okay, just a side note for everyone: First of all, no one seems to know Callie's name. She never had one, at least not to my knowledge, so I've made it into Andrews. Second thing, this is taking place in the Fall, so Bradin's already been in Playa Linda for a while. Meaning he's already dated Sara and so on and so forth. It's basically what I would want the show to be like if he'd met Callie a little later. I hope that makes sense, if anyone gets confused just review me and I'll try to explain it better in my next Authors Note.

Chapter 12

Bradin, Callie and I waited patiently on the couch as Jay got a severe serving of lip from Ava. Or should I say Callie and Bradin waited on the couch as I lounged on the floor, attempting to say as far away from the fuming Callie as possible.

Ava finally walked into the room, sticking out the pointer finger on her right hand and pointing it directly at Bradin who raised his eyebrows and used the same hand gesture to point to himself, "Me?" He let his voice squeak in mock nervousness, but by the looks of it I could tell he was practically shitting himself with fear.

"Yes, you." Ava's eyes got small and narrow, apparently not appreciating the little joke that Bradin had cracked as much as Callie and I had. _I suppose this isn't the right time for him to be making jokes, but it was pretty funny._I thought to myself, rolling my eyes at Brae's stupidity.

Once he was quietly removed from the room by Ava, Callie and I were left in silence.

"Hey, Cal, listen I don't like Bradin like that. And we were just kidding around and stuff, you know?" I stuttered out the words, looking up at her for approval. _I'd never do that to you. I couldn't. Ever. _ The thought that Callie could be mad at me over a guy when I didn't care about him half as much as I cared about her burned a whole right through me.

"It's fine." Her statement was short and she wouldn't even look me straight in the eye. They were, instead, focused on the doorway that Bradin had left through. _This is so pointless. She's known him for one day and he's already taken over me. He's so lucky and he doesn't even realize it. Even if he did, I don't think he'd care all that much. She's suffocating him._

I sighed and looked down at my feet over the puffiness of the pink dress. I still had it on, probably not the best idea, but I'd ask Brae for a change of clothes when Ava got done serving it to him.

"What're _you_ sighing about? You're not that one in that room." Callie flicked her finger over her shoulder, "I wonder what she could be doing that's taking **this** long."

"You're suffocating him." The words slipped out of my mouth as though they'd been hiding under my tongue for the past 24 hours.

"What was that?" She pulled her head back, furrowing her brow. _She can't believe I said something like that to her. Well, ha, take that Callie Andrews, you deserve it. I'm finally sticking up for… myself? No. More like Bradin, but whatever. At least I'm sticking up to Callie for someone._

"You heard me, Cal." I refocused my gaze to my chipping nail polish. _Hell, when was the last time I painted these things?_ I wiggled my toes back and forth for a moment, acting as if they were the most interesting thing in the entire house. Jay walked into the room rubbing his arm, half talking to himself and half to me and Callie, who was about to unleash on me.

"She hit me." He shook his head, a stunned look on his face.

"Oh, poor you, she's a girl. You can handle it." Callie rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Jay retorted, giving Callie a dirty look along with a smirk.

"We never really got introduced, did we?" I jumped up from the off the floor, making sure to stop the brawl that Callie was about to start with some man who just opened up his house to us for the night, "I'm Daveigh and this is Callie."

"Daveigh, I like that name." He nodded his head in approval, and closed one eye, "Daveigh. Yeah, definitely got a ring, mate."

I let out a sole laugh before biting down on my lip and asking him the long awaited question, at least in my mind at the moment, "What's going to happen? I mean what's the worst that Ava can serve it?"

"Hah, I don't think Ava can serve much of anything, especially not to Brae. You know, after everything that happened, but she can get pretty pissed off at times." He focused his gaze on the ceiling above him, intending to think of the worst possible punishment that Bradin could be handed, but instead seeing the wads of toilet paper that'd somehow managed to make their way up there. I turned around, standing arm to arm with Jay and placed my hands on my hips, "Kids these days," I started, "They really do some pretty crazy things. I mean, how does one even get that up there?" I shrugged my shoulders, raising my arms with them in an inquisitive gesture. "They sure do have talent, I can tell you that much."

"Hey, don't speak of it so sorely, mate. Last night that would've been a work of art to you." Jay looked at me seriously before going off on a tangent, "I'm stuck! My legs are glued to the floor! They're turning into wood."

"I was on LSDs! Leave a kid alone." I shook my head, walking back over to the couch as Jay walked out the doors that lead to what I figured was his room. Just as Jay left, Bradin walked in followed close behind by Ava.

"Alright, girls. Bradin and I have had a talk and we've decided that it was more his fault then either of your faults, seeing as you just met him today, and I understand the pressure that teens feel after just moving to a new place. You know, to fit it. So I've decided not to do much of anything regarding your parents, other than send you guys on your way, because I'm sure your parents are worried about you by now." Ava crossed her arms across her chest and gave us both a half smile, one that I returned and Callie just smirked at.

"Thank you so much, it honestly means a lot to us, Ms. Gregory. If you need any help cleaning the place up, I'd be happy to volunteer." I offered my help, throwing a crooked glance at Bradin, knowing that his punishment would have something to do with the cleaning of the entire house. He flashed me a thankful smile back, but quickly exchanged it for a look of defeat when Ava turned down my offer.

"We won't be needing your help, Daveigh, is it?" I nodded my head. "We'll be fine. It's just going to be part of Bradin's punishment." She rested her hand on Bradin's hair and mussed it up a little bit, chuckling to herself as he grimaced at the idea of tackling the load of cleaning for the whole house by himself.

"Alright, sounds fair." Callie stood up, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards Bradin's room so we could gather our things.

"Oh, wait, Dave. You're going to have to change out of that dress." Bradin pointed at me, grabbing my other hand as Callie attempted to tug me away, "I'll get you something to wear of mine, because no one really has any clue where **your** stuff is." He walked into his room, opening and closing a few drawers. After a few minutes a pile of clothing that consisted of a white undershirt, boxers and a hoodie was gathered on his bed. He lifted the pile into his arms and handed it to me graciously.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Ava nodded her head in approval as I closed the door to Bradin's room behind me and quickly changed into the clothes. My legs looked long and pasty stick out from under the plaid boxers and the hoodie came half way down my thighs. _I guess I really didn't realize how much smaller than Bradin I was._I thought about it for a second or two while looking in the mirror and giving myself a small smile and a few runs of my hands through my hair, then I opened the door and smiled at the three standing in the room. All but one smiled back, but I figured I could talk to her on the ride home. _What's the big deal, Callie, you've really got to chill out._ I could already hear myself saying it and her bitter response. "Nothing's wrong, Dave, just leave it alone." She never talked to me about things of importance to her. Sometimes it hurt me, and sometimes, like this time, it just flat out pissed me off. _We're supposed to be best friends, best friends talk, don't they?_

"One more thing, girls, I really don't think the idea of you driving Dave's car home would be smart. I mean, you're both rather hung over from last night and we don't know if Dave's LSD trip will have a relapse or not. I'll drive you two home and you can chose to make up an excuse for your parents, I won't be telling them the truth so you can say whatever it is you'd like. On Monday, after school, I'd be happy to pick you up and talk this all out about Tanner. I know Bradin and him haven't had the best of relationships, so it's safe to assume that you're telling the truth about something as severe as that." Ava gave us a questioning stare to see if we were both up for her proposition.

I waited for Callie to answer, figuring I'd done the majority of talking to her so-called boyfriends Aunt, but when she didn't answer I choose to speak up. "That sounds awesome, Ms. Gregory. Honestly, this means so much to the both of us. We're so sorry for whatever trouble we've caused." I bit my lip, and silently followed her out of the house, waving over my shoulder at Bradin who seemed just as happy, if not more, at the way that Ava was treating this whole thing.

"Good luck!" I mouthed to him as I walked out the door and into the car.


	13. Chapter 13

The following Monday had rolled around significantly fast, maybe it was because we were all unexcited to hear what Ava would have to say, or maybe it was because for the following two days after the incident at Bradin's I'd decided to stay firmly placed in my house, fearing I'd run into Callie or Tanner, neither of which I wanted to see. It was easy to avoid Tanner, I'd never seen or heard much about him other than the fact that he was a trouble maker, and I'd surprisingly found it was just as easy to avoid Callie. Odd, seeing as we're best friends, but she still made no effort to talk to me or call me after getting out of Ava's car on Saturday morning. _Oh well, nothing that I should worry about._ I figured I'd had enough to think about.

I waited outside with my Herve Chaplier bag slung over my shoulder, cupping my hand over my forehead to shade my eyes from the blinding sunlight. A hand pushed mine aside and slipped me into darkness. "Guess who?" They cooed in my ear. I thought for a moment. The smell was familiar, salty but sweet with cologne, "Bradin?" I gave it a shot.

"Damnit, how'd you know?" He threw his hands up in defeat.

I shrugged my shoulders, "You smell like surfer."

"Dave," He slugged me in the shoulder playfully, "**Everyone** at Playa Linda High smells like a surfer."

"I don't." I gave him a sly smile.

"Yeah, well, besides you. You're just weird." He gave me one the infamous half smiles that I'd grown to love over the short 3 days that I'd known him. It fit him, though, the way that his lip pulled back a little more on the left than it did on the right, revealing his perfectly straight ivory teeth. I stood, rocking myself back and forth on my heels, and twirling a stray piece of hair from my ponytail around my finger.

"Where's Cal?" I looked around, squinting at the reflection of the sunlight off the cars, "I haven't seen her all day." I bit my lip, suddenly realizing that Brae and I hadn't even bothered to remember that we didn't spend lunch with her on the beach, either. "Brae, where could she be?" I twirled my hair in a rapid motion, clearly getting nervous.

"Daveigh, Daveigh. Chill out. I'm sure she's just home sick or something. Maybe she's still hung over from my house, she seemed pretty beaten up for the amount of alcohol she drank. You know…" He trailed off, his thinking getting the best of him.

"What?" I asked, proceeding to twirl my hair, but at a much slower pace now that Bradin had calmed my nerves. I watched him intensely with my dark chocolate eyes, "Bradin, what are you thinking?" I could see his brow furrowed in consternation as he eased himself out of his deep thinking process.

"Oh, sorry, did you say something?" He shook his head in a dazed manner, rubbing fiercely at his temples, "I zoned out or something."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know." I stammered through my sentences, once again getting worried that there was some shady action going on that I didn't know about. I blew it off the moment I saw Ava's red Corvette pull around the corner and into the parking lot of the school.

Bradin hastily jogged ahead of me, and I let him. All the while knowing that just a few slim paces and I could out run him easily, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, nonetheless. He bent down and undid the latch of the seat, letting me climb to the back of the car with ease before he got in.

"Thanks," I smiled brightly at him; adjusting my ponytail for the wind blown ride and watching the trees and scenery around us speed up as Ava hit the accelerator. A song was on the radio that I'd never heard, but from the back I couldn't hear much. I tried to listen to the chords of it, wondering if it was something that Bradin liked or whether it was just on the radio, but gave up when we pulled up to the Gregory house and it was shut off.

The three of us walked into the house like a family, I rather liked the feeling of it, I definitely hadn't felt it in a long time. My family wasn't close like the Gregory/Westerly family and part of me didn't really understand it. _Where are Bradin's parents?_ I knew it would be something that was hard to discuss for Brae, so I didn't push it, instead I placed my heavy bag down and took a seat between Bradin and Ava. I smiled at both of them and interlaced my fingers, placing my hands on my lap.

"Sooo…" I raised my eyebrows, rather excited to get my car back, it was my life.

"Well, first, let's start with where's Callie?" Bradin and I exchanged glances at Ava's question; quite honestly we both had no idea. Bradin chose to answer first, "Well, she wasn't in school today so we're assuming that she's sick." I nodded my head in agreement, pursing my lips until they were white from the pressure.

Ava took a moment to contemplate this, "Understandable. Now did you and Callie work out a plan to tell your parents, about where the car was?" This time the question was directed at me, I had no choice but to answer it.

"Yes and no. I mean, I told my parents that I hit a curb last night and that I put it into the shop to get it checked out because it sounded like the ABS was letting out air. But I never agreed to tell the same thing to Callie's parents. It's not like my parents called hers, so I'm pretty sure we're in the clear."

"Thank God you know so much about cars." Bradin thankfully sighed. "Wait, how **do** you know so much about cars?"

I laughed at him, "Brae, woodshop isn't the **only** elective I've taken at Playa Linda High."

"I find out more about you everyday, and you never cease to surprise me." I laughed at his statement, playfully punching him. "Thanks Brae, that's real nice. You've only known me for something like 4 days and you're already telling me I'm out of my mind."

"Alright, kids, we need to get one thing straightened out before I let you go on a flirting rampage." Ava broke into Bradin and my conversation. I turned bright red at her comment; _I wasn't flirting with him, was I? Is that was Cal saw when she came into the room? He's a boy. I don't like boys._ Before I could even think of a reason for my actions Ava was off on another topic. "So now, these pills that you had, Daveigh. Who gave them to you?"

I gave her a blank stare, "No offense, Mrs. Gregory, but I was on LSDs. I wasn't really paying attention to who gave them to me when I figured out I was tripping on drugs." I gave her an apologetic look.

She gave me a stern look, "Obviously, Dave, you can remember something about him. Do you think it was Tanner, from the evidence that it was clearly in Lucas's bottle of pills and such?"

I thought for a moment, closing my eye and biting my lip. "Yeah, it could've been Tanner. I mean, it could've been anyone that was Tanner's build and looked even remotely like him, but I heard his voice and yeah, I think it was him."

Ava sighed, pulling a bottle out of her purse and looking down at it. It took a moment for me to realize it was the one from the party, the one that had made me so incredibly screwed up in the mind; I almost wanted to throw them across the room and scream. "I'm sorry, guys, if we don't have enough evidence to accuse Tanner, I can't do anything or press any charges."

"Well, you couldn't have even if we knew for a fact that it was Tanner because you left a minor in a house by himself." Bradin had a look of consternation on his face as he went over the facts one more time.

"Ah, but I left Jay here. He just approved of the party, which wasn't something that **I** particularly approved of, but I should've known that would happen the moment I left you in Jay's custody." Ava chuckled for a moment, shaking her head at her own stupidity before getting serious again, "Alright, Dave, I'll go get the keys to your car. Thank you so much for coming over here to talk this out with me. Now guys, I just want you to remember to stay away from Tanner. He's obviously trying to start something with Bradin and this whole family, to say the least, just keep away from him and I doubt he'll be able to do anything serious."

Both Bradin and I nodded our heads in agreement before Ava exited the room and left the two of us on the couch.

I glanced at Bradin sternly, "I hope you know we're not staying away from Tanner, not in the slightest. I'm going to catch that kid in the act." It was a Monday; the only people that would have enough guts to throw a party on the beach on a Monday (when the majority of the cops in Playa Linda were patrolling it) would be Tanners group.

"Dave, you're out of your mind, but you're right. We definitely aren't." He whispered the last part back to me just as Ava walked into the room with my keychain dangling in front of her. I could tell it was mine from the yellow and black Playa Linda High lanyard that it hung out, clad with a little bumble bee key chain, a miniature mase can (courtesy of my loving father) and a few other odds and ends.

I squealed and hopped off the couch, "Thank you sooo much Ms. Gregory. It's awesome of you." I gave her a quick hug, already feeling like she was a second mother to me and picked up my bag, "Just remember, if you need help with **anything** I owe you my life."

"And one designer dress." Bradin chuckled.

"Thanks for being a jerk a reminding me." I socked him in the arm and gave him a menacing glare. "Gooodbye Bradin Westerly."

"Gooodbyyye Daveigh Weatherfield." Bradin mocked my words.

"I'll call you tonight, right after I call Callie and see where the hell she was tonight. Alright?" I gave him a wink, hoping he understood what I meant. Tonight we would go to the beach. Tonight would be the night we'd catch Tanner in the act. And we had to do it all before 11:00PM, Bradin's new curfew. Courtsey of the grounding. He returned the wink which let me know he understood as I walked out the front door of his house, clicking the unlock button two times and smiling at the familiar beep of my car.


End file.
